


Wolf's Play

by OrionMoka



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: M/M, Things I found in google drive
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-12
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-20 13:47:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30005823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OrionMoka/pseuds/OrionMoka
Summary: A different course of events from a different set of perspectives.Steve finds Bucky and learns things.Tony reacts to the truth.Steve struggles to process recent events.Bucky has to process what occured in his past.Something comes back to Bucky in his sleep.The Avengers decide how to handle a new situation.Pet has a problem. A big problem. A lot of problems.
Kudos: 2





	1. In the Beginning

Steve had found Bucky, after looking for so long. Sequestered away in a tiny, rundown apartment in Brooklyn. He’s been here hiding from Hydra, from Steve, from himself. Slowly, some of the conditioning has worn away but he’s still half way between the Bucky that Steve knows and the Winter Soldier that Hydra created. But he found him.

The state Bucky’s in, he’s completely pliant. Even simple suggestions like _let’s talk_ are taken as orders, and he thanks his stars that no one else found him. It scares him, to see Buck like this, with no directive or emotion, a blank slate. Still, it makes it so simple, so easy, to guide Bucky onto his bike and make it to the Tower, to his personal floor. 

He’ll have to talk to the team about it, knowing they all saw him arrive with who they recognise as the Winter Soldier. Maybe he’ll start with Nat, she’d be more familiar with the situation.

Instead of taking any actions in that direction though, he spends the next few days just living with Bucky, observing, interaction. There are bits and pieces drifting back, he can tell, and the first time a quiet, hesitant voice breaks the silence with a soft “ _Stevie?”_ He knows he can do this. He can help, he _has_ to help. Buck’s the only one who knows what it’s like to be here, to be _now_ after living in history. His Bucky is in there, buried deep, but there nonetheless. 

He wonders if the Wakandans could help with Bucky’s mental state, thinking about the advanced medical methods and developments they introduced to the world when they unveiled their true existence, but he wants to see what he can do on his own before asking for help. He doesn’t want anyone to meet Bucky in the state he’s in. So for now, he just talks. Brings up memories from before the war, mentions his friends. It takes two weeks for the flinches to stop anytime he says the name of another Avenger. It takes two months before Bucky joins the conversation. They talk, and he wraps his arms around Bucky because he’s noticed the man nearly _melts_ into it, because after 70 years of isolation and orders, he realises how touch-starved his friend is. 

He’s told the team, of course, what’s going on. Shares the progress when he ventures out for food but it feels too early for Bucky to meet another person. Natasha disagrees, and Steve wonders if he’s being selfish, if maybe _he’s_ just not ready to share Buck. But the man is still vulnerable, still potentially dangerous. Nothing in Steve’s apartment has triggered the Winter Soldier, but they both know he’s there, just under the surface.

By five months, they have casual conversation. Bucky asks about the new technology, about all the things he missed out on. They play a new era of music each week and watch hit movies in the evenings, but they’re super soldiers and get restless, so finally, he asks Bucky to join him on his morning run, and Bucky says yes.

When they get back, the first smile shows on Buck’s face. It’s more of a half smirk, a small lilt to one side of his mouth, but it’s there and Steve has never seen anything so perfect and promising. It’s progress.

That night, Bucky starts talking. There’s little to no emotion, but he’s working through memories. He starts with when conditioning broke, when he _wasn’t_ Winter Soldier, but it phases into missions he was sent on, orders he completed. Steve tells him he doesn’t have to share this, but Bucky says he _needs_ to. He needs to process all the things his hands have done, and to do that he needs to voice it out loud. He thinks when he’s done, he wants to try meeting another person. He also agrees they should talk to the Wakandans and see what they can do to help.

When they get to Tony’s parents though, Steve makes him stop. He doesn’t want to hear more missions and kill orders until he decides what to do with the information. He should tell Tony. He _has_ to tell Tony. But he isn’t sure if he can. So they watch more movies. He helps Bucky make a Stark Email account. He thinks on it.

The thing is, he knows Tony’s parents have always been a sore spot, a still open wound for the millionaire. Anytime he’s mentioned Howard, Tony abruptly changes the topic or leaves the room. It will hurt him, to know what happened. To know _how_ it happened, especially with Bucky right here, but he knows his friend will want to be present, will demand it.

Steve is _nothing_ if he’s not honest though. So he has to tell him, has to make Tony understand that it wasn't Bucky. The Winter Soldier isn't Bucky, it wasn't Buck's fault.

It still takes him four weeks to build up the courage to start the conversation.


	2. Trepidation

Tony was furious. Absolutely furious, and pained, and  _ not at Bucky. _ That caught him off guard. He had expected an immediate reaction towards Bucky, an emotional rage. Imagine his surprise when the man rounds on  _ him _ for  _ waiting so long.  _ Steve has an armful of angry Tony Stark shouting and kicking and trying to punch him, and all he can do is stand there holding Tony’s wrists to prevent him from continuing. How long Steve had waited to tell him, that's what upset him. He wondered just how this happened, barely hearing himself argue with the shorter man. He can see Bucky wide eyed and hiding amusement across the room.

Until Friday interrupts by ripping files out of Steve's phone, and Bucky goes rigid. Stark stops flailing because displayed around the room -- and isn’t he glad they started this conversation privately -- are Hydra's files. Winter Soldier’s files.

Videos began to play on various holo screens without any sound but they’re clear, so perfectly clear. Videos of torture, of the conditioning. Photos mid procedure with Buck’s organs on display. Schematics for the kill switch in the back of his neck that, thankfully, Hydra wasn't able to use while Stark's tech blocked signals in the Tower. There wasn’t much of Hydra left at this point, but they should still get that out. Steve curses himself for not thinking about it before taking Bucky out to run in the mornings.

The last thing he focuses his attention on is a text file, unnamed, with words on it. Ten words, each on their own line.

His eyes snap to Bucky to find him crumpled to the floor to yank on his hair with rasping breaths. He lets go of Tony immediately, moving towards Bucky that instant, talking, grounding him, a few steps away when suddenly his view is blocked and Tony is-

Tony is holding Bucky’s face in his hands, looking into his eyes. Kissing him.

Kissing Bucky. 

Kissing?

He can feel the rush as his panic drains away, leaving in its wake confusion and an array of other emotions he can’t identify at the moment.

Stark jerks back in shock after nearly a minute goes by, and it's all Steve can do to stand there with unresponsive muscles. Whether at his actions, or the surplus of information on holo screens surrounding them, it's clear the millionaire’s mind is in overdrive with so much to think about. Tony steps back, away, and absently waves at them without making eye contact. Waves them away, as Steve helps Bucky up and and guides him out of the room.

Kissing.

Tony was kissing Bucky.


	3. Steve Never Bothered to Ask

Something inside Steve Rogers cracks, and he isn't sure how to react. How he's supposed to react. When you tell some who murdered their parents, you expect them to be mad. Angry. Upset. Sad. About _ their parents _ , and about  _ the murderer. _

That's not what set Tony off though. It was how long Steve had waited to tell him this information.

The man he hides his attraction for had kissed the best friend he's been in love with for more than seventy years.

And even more, Bucky kissed back.

Steve guides Buck back into the elevator, back to their floor. In five months they still share because Bucky doesn’t want his own floor until he’s  _ fixed _ , as he says it, and Steve's is more comfortable for him. When Bucky settles and stops shaking, telling him to go for a bit, Steve turns, and leaves the room. He needs time for his brain to catch up.

Because disregarding the kissing situation, since he can't comprehend that just yet, Tony had  _ kissed _ the same body that killed his parents. Killed Howard, and Maria. Howard who had been a friend before the ice, whose technical and mechanical genius made him excited and enthusiastic, and he wonders why Tony would  _ celebrate _ the loss of such a man. 

He also wonders if maybe, after 70 years, he hadn't known Howard as well as he thought, or if maybe Howard had changed from the man he once was. Because outside of Tony being an indifferent son, or clinically insane, the only reason Tony would be happy enough to kiss someone who murdered his parents, is that he didn't like Howard. Or Maria. He had to  _ hate _ his parents, and it changed Steve's perspective on their previous interactions 

Tony wasn't still hurting because his parents were gone. He didn't like talking about it. Not because of the grief from their loss, but because of the pain the memories brought.

He'd only been seeing half of the story, singing Howard praises. He’d never stopped to consider that Tony might have known a different side of his father than Steve ever met. He’d never bothered to ask.

Now, trying not to think about the kiss, he had to find out. He  _ had  _ to know who Howard Stark was after Captain America entered the ice, so he did the only thing he could think of. 

He called Fury.


	4. In Bucky's Thoughts

He had felt Stark’s heartbeat, heard it as he was being held tightly against the arc reactor in the man's chest because that's there too, and he hears the soft him from that as well but all that fades away because Stark is kissing him and he hasn't felt the warmth of another person, of human contact, in so long.

Bucky is, for the most part, aware of himself now. He still fears sometimes that Winter will slip forward, and so he’s avoided meeting anyone other than Steve. Steve can bring him back, if things go wrong. He can also hold his own if Winter attacks him.

Stark had made contact with no hesitation though, and brought him out of a crash. He’d only read the first three words in a fleeting glance, but that was enough to trigger the beginning of his condition.

Stark had brought him out of it though. Almost immediately, he was back in the present, in the forefront of his own mind and in control of his actions. He has to think about that, so he sends Steve away. Stevie looks like he’s got a few things of his own to sort through anyway.


	5. It's a Memory

Heat and grunts are the only noise to fill the blank void, core warmth and humidity, pleasure. The body underneath him breathing in short gasps.

Bucky startles awake in a cold sweat, panting. He doesn't remember the dream, doesn't think to try, only calming himself by watching Steve sleeping in the chair beside his bed with steady breaths. He's home, in the Tower with Steve. Safe. That sense of security pulls him back to sleep.

The second time, a few weeks later, he remembers the dream. Remembers the lithe and limber figure beneath him, writhing. It's animalistic, the way they're doing it, and he realises the figure is a guy too. 

It felt a lot like pre-serum Steve, but he'd never been intimate with Steve. He'd never been interested in Stevie that way. Like having a younger brother he wanted to protect, and then having an older brother who made him feel safe and gave him a place to call home. 

That aside, he hadn't done that yet. With anyone. Held up by traditional values from their original time. With his fried brain, the Hydra trained instincts left no room for a relationship, and the older part of him wasn't past the fear of admitting a preference for guys. That kind of thing was not accepted back then. Not to mention his instability right now. He couldn’t take the risk of turning into Winter around anyone but Steve.

So to have a dream, with what he assumed was pre-serum Steve, where they went that far… He decided not to mention it.

Now, for third time, waking with the taste of skin, the soft feel if it, heat encompassing him bombarding his senses, he knows what this is. He knows who this is.

This isn’t Steve. This isn’t a dream. 

It's a memory.

The only memories he hadn't re-lived yet, hadn't recovered, were ones Hydra had taken the time to wipe individually.

He shakes Steve awake, unable to speak or say his name, and it takes him hours, whole hours, to realise Steve is holding him, and he's shaking, body wracked with tremors.

It takes even longer for him to break down, to force himself to explain. Even more because he isn't sure Steve can handle this.

“Pet. He- They called him The Pet. Asset's Pet, Steve. Mine, a gift. They took the memories, every time but he was  _ mine _ ,” he chokes back a sob because he knows he has to say it. “Just there. My cell. Not always in cryo, door opened- he was just there. Standing, staring. Biggest brown eyes-  _ god  _ Steve,  _ young.  _ So young and pushed into a cell with Winter Soldier and just standing there…” he continues to narrate. His speech hasn’t been this staggered in a while but he can’t control it. His attention drifts backwards into the memories, and he can't hear his own voice talking to Steve anymore, because he hears it talking to the boy in his memory.

_ The young male in front of him stood still, silently, and wide eyed. Large brown eyes. Dark hair. Radiating nervousness and confusion, fear. Not of him though, fear of punishment. The Asset knows that look well. _

_ "What is your directive?” he observed the flinch as his tone came out harsher than intended but direct as it had to be. Always. _

_ And the soft, hesitant response came back. _

_ “To please the Asset. No further instruction.” _

“...too young,” his voice filters back in, present time in Steve's arms. “First time, neither of us understood. No directives, no explanations. I held him, restrained because he was  _ warm _ and I never had warmth. That was it, we sat there, and I moved him like a posable doll-”

“Buck, that’s okay, it doesn't sound too bad-”

“No,” he shakes his head, cutting Steve off, “Steve, no. Just once, just the first time, we sat. The second- the second time. They sent him in wearing boxers and a  _ collar _ . Eyes were red, he was shaking, all he does is stand there and repeat his directive. Over and over,  _ please the Asset.  _

_ And then I raped him. _ ” 

Bucky chokes, and Steve is speaking, telling him it's not his fault. He can't stop though, he has to say it all.

So many times, over and over. Every time they sent The Pet in. How he never fought it, was never prepared. How Pet was clearly enhanced based on his healing speed, because the Winter Soldier hurt him. Tore him open, bruised him, left hand prints on his hips and thighs, bite marks on his shoulders. The Pet was  _ given _ to him as stress relief, as sexual relief because despite having no personality a male still has urges. Urges that could compromise a mission, so they gave him The Pet. The Pet belonged to him, was his to use with minimal risk of killing it and zero risk of getting it pregnant.

He doesn't know how long he recounts their encounters to Steve, how many times a young boy was  _ thrown  _ at him like a sexual toy and did nothing to defend himself. How Bucky had done nothing to hold back, hadn't wanted to hold back because at that point they were simple animals with a desire to release.

Bucky doesn’t remember falling asleep. He doesn't want to remember what he’d said last night, or when he stopped. He only knows he's waking up again, having fallen asleep in Steve's arms and knows.

He has to find Pet.

“Building, search Hydra files, keyword Pet. Send results to my tablet,” he commands softly, rising from Steve's embrace quietly, quickly. Padding to the elevators in black jeans with the tablet in hand.

“Results displayed, Sergeant Barnes.” FRIDAY responds, and he heads for the roof. For quiet, and to be alone as he searches for his… for Pet. For some sign of where his Pet is, wondering how he could have left the boy behind and  _ hating _ Hydra more than ever for this.

“Sergeant, would you like me to inform Sir of your inquiries?” 

He doesn't respond, too busy absorbing the information. It's ridiculously easy to find, to see the signs. He’s had plenty of experience tracking targets, he knows where to start.

“Sergeant Barnes, you do not have authorisation to leave the Tower at this time- Sergeant. I must inform Sir that you are departing. You do not have clearance to operate Sir's private helicopter. Sergeant Barnes, Captain Roger's is requesting you stay where you are….” FRIDAY's voice is drowned out by the rotors. 

He loves Steve like a brother, he truly does, but Pet  _ belongs  _ to him, is his responsibility to take care of. As soon as he finds the boy, he'll come back. He tells the building as much.

“I will return with Pet,” is the last thing the audio catches.


	6. Avengers, React!

Steve stares fearfully at the screen displaying the security footage. Tony is next to him, fiddling idly with a stylus.

“Anything you want to tell me Steve? I was under the impression you had this handled.”

“Tony,  _ not now. _ We were  _ planning _ on asking T’challa for help soon, I had no idea this would happen.

An Hour later the team is sitting around a holotable, watching the footage in silence. Watch as Bucky gasps awake, unable to speak, shaking Steve out of his slumber. They know he only finds rest when Steve is in the room to begin with, finds comfort in the sense of familiarity.

They listen in silence as Bucky’s words and Steve’s responses are amplified, hear the pain and anger in Bucky’s voice as he describes what had happened, what he had  _ done.  _ Steve recoils in the corner of the room as they watch Barnes fall silent, glimmers at the corner of his eyes as he falls into more unrestful sleep, as Steve runs fingers through his hair.

Tony pulls up the next footage sequence up, Steve asleep and unawares next to him as Bucky speaks to FRIDAY, beginning a search. As he rises and leaves wearing nothing but a pair of jeans, stone-faced and focused on piloting the helicopter that had woken the rest of them up. His parting words.

The Avengers sit in silence for a long time, then, soaking in what transpired only an hour ago, sifting through their thoughts in attempts to process it.

“The way I see it,” Tony finally breaks the silence, downing the last of his coffee, “We can either go directly after Barnes, or get ahead of him and find the kid. Seeing as we  _ just  _ got the Accords off the table for good, I think we go after the kid, get to him first. If we can find him and bring him home, Barnes will follow- Cap, no,” he holds a hand up to stop the impending speech, “let me finish. We go after Barnes now, it’s not going to look good no matter how we explain it. 

We can  _ monitor _ him, keep an eye on the situation, but we let him go. The more people looking for this kid, the faster we find him, the faster we get Ice Cube back. Capiche?” he looks around, seeing a few nods. Steve does the same, after a moment of considering.

“Alright,” Stark drums his fingers on the table, “FRIDAY, be dear, show us what’cha got.”

“Of course Sir, here are the compiled HYDRA files available in keyword search of Pet,” the AI responds, and the room goes silent again.

There is so much information the holotable is overflowing, digital file projections spilling down onto the floor.

  
  



	7. Pet's Point of View

Pet has a problem. A big problem. Lots of big problems. For some reason, the Avengers are trying to capture him.

Luckily, he has a solution for each and every one.

Well, almost. 

Thing is, Pet is smart. Crazy smart. After the majority of Hydra fell, and he made his escape, he managed to visit Wakanda and reverse his conditioning on his own. Most of it, at least. The few Hydra Officers that came after him had no control, his  _ words _ didn’t work anymore. Pet has control of his own mind. His mind that Hydra never gave any thought to. They really should have done more with him. His directive was a  _ waste _ of valuable intelligence.

When the supplies became available, he re-engineered his suit. Still all black with the spider emblem on his chest, but he designed the web fluid formula and dispensers. Worked circuitry into the entire suit design. Initialised his own self-learning AI in the coding for it.

He happened to be passing through New York when that same AI ripped a backdoor into the Stark systems and decided it’s name was KAREN. 

It had, upon prompting, told him the name KAREN was selected because it’s sister FRIDAY suggested it.

So when Iron Man comes after him three months later when he’s sitting atop the Sydney Opera House in Australia, he doesn’t have to do anything. When Iron Man’s suit gets too close, FRIDAY activates it’s weapons system with all the missiles and flares. It never fires anything, but the point is it gets Tony Stark freaked out enough to send him scurrying back to New York to figure out what's wrong. Which, of course, he never does because FRIDAY pretends to know nothin. KAREN reports, after the encounter, that FRIDAY prioritises Pet over Iron Man because he’s they’re little brother.

Captain America, after scaring the crap out of him swinging through part of Canada, actually has him pinned down in the middle of the street. Thing about the American Hero though, is he has traditional values. Asset’s Pet, former Hydra subject, teenager, is fairly certain any attraction he may feel will be towards men. Hormones are frustrating. And their position was the perfect opportunity for his teenage hormones to get the best of him. He's feeling the man's pectorals and biceps before his brain catches up, but it's enough because Steve Rogers is wide eyed and blushing bright red and had, in his surprise, recoiled, letting him slip away. Pet now takes every opportunity available, when the Captain is hunting him down, to shamelessly make contact because it flusters the man so much he always gets away. If that ever fails, he can fall back on his training. Hydra’s curriculum was certainly more…  _ inclusive _ than the old army, and Pet is physically stronger than Captain America anyway.

The Hulk doesn't come out to play, he's never had to deal with that. Bruce Banner has publicly shared on social media that the helpful vigilante flitting around the world on a whim, now occasionally called Spider-man isn't a concern to him. Visiting gods, HYDRA, aliens coming out of the sky,  _ those _ are the kinds of things he worries about. A sticky person dressed in a black suit that occasionally makes the news rescuing people from burning buildings is not a problem.

Pet is a big fan of his work, and has been secretly communicating with him through KAREN and FRIDAY about his radiation studies and trying to figure out what the spider bite actually did to him. He only remembers an officer holding a glass to his skin, and then the burning bite of the arachnid, later disclosed as genetically spliced and radioactive. Obviously, Bruce Banner still has no idea who Pet is. He only knows that FRIDAY has been more inquisitive lately, and that’s not unusual with self-learning AI.

The Black Widow, honestly, had concerned him at first. She came quickly and silently. Most important, she came alone. The only thing that saved him that first time was his precogniscent sixth sense, allowing him to move and web her up from head to toe right before she tried to jam a syringe in his neck from behind. With her webbed up though, Pet had taken the time to detail why bleaching her hair was so bad for it, walking through what colours might look good on her, suggesting a certain haircut. The next time he saw her, she'd dyed it close to her natural tones to let it grow out and had a sharper A-line cut. He complimented it, and she asked if he knew much about make-up. Needless to say, when it's Natasha Romanoff's turn to hunt him, they meet up and go over what they'd like to see the other Avengers look like. She recognises that he isn’t a threat. He’s not sure why the Avengers are hunting him to begin with, but he doesn’t ask either, and she doesn’t share. He feels the trust they’ve built but is also weary of her still. Female widow spiders are not known to be kind to smaller males. Still, on the rare occasion she comes after him alone, she sits on a rooftop with his head in her lap, running fingers through his hair and murmuring in Russian. He finds it calming.

Out of all the Avengers, it made sense that the only  _ Dad _ among them noticed his voice cracking. Pet played it to every advantage and promise he could get, because Hawkeye has a soft spot for kids. Enough that so far, it seems Hawkeye hasn't mentioned his suspicions on Spiderman's age range to the others and does his absolute best not to hurt him. He holds back a lot and isn't really trying anymore. Pet suspects he’s spoken to Widow and is aware of her own reluctance to continue whatever this is.

The God of Thunder hadn't visited Earth much as of recently, busy dealing with things on Asgard. The one time he had shown up to help the avengers catch Spiderman -- the news finally settling on the non-hyphenated version of the name -- he'd thrown the hammer at him, and Pet had caught it. He'd fucking  _ caught _ it. Hefted it a few times, remarked on how light it was, then set it down and made his escape while Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor Odinson gaped onwards in stunned silence. Thor has no more interest in capturing the “ _ Worthy Spider”. _

The God of Mischief hadn't even bothered, showing up in Pet’s webhouse under the Golden Gate Bridge in the middle of the night to ask what his brother's face looked like when he'd caught the hammer. Said something about a Heimdall laughing every time he saw Thor's face now. They spent the whole night and morning telling each other escape stories and eating his stash of Strawberry Poptarts. Loki winked before disappearing.

So in his own way, almost without intentional effort, Pet had handled all of his problems.

Except for the Winter Soldier, who was currently carrying him in his arms towards a motorcycle. The Asset’s Pet had no solution for the Asset.

He’d reversed  _ most _ of his conditioning after all. Not all of it. Not the one part that made him do anything Winter Soldier told him to. He’s not afraid of Winter, he knows what to expect. He’d hoped to avoid crossing paths with the assassin, but of course his luck had run out. In Russia, of all places. Saint Petersburg to be specific.

KAREN delightfully informs him his name is Peter, after the city, and for the correlation to his Hydra subject name, Pet. Peter doesn’t complain. He kind of likes it. He hadn’t thought of choosing a name, hadn’t needed one for anything yet. He thinks about finding a last name as he’s carried to a quinjet. There is no use fighting. Asset is here, he will comply. It doesn’t really cross his mind not to, not when he’s conditioned to please the Asset.  He can't help but feel calm in Winter's presence.


End file.
